Blazing Divine Flame
by Tigress of the Moon
Summary: This is a non-Yaoi Tasuki fan fic! And NOT a lemon either! THIS fanfic is nice and SAFE!So for all of you who are sick (literally) of all the yaoi Tasuki fanfics, then you'll LOVE this one! (Note: That doesn't mean I think all yaoi fanfics are bad).
1. Chapter 1: The Lone Bandit

Blazing Divine Flame  
  
Disclamier: I don't FY, the manga or the anime. I do own Makani tho.  
  
Edit to Original Author's Note: I no longer feel as strongly against yaoi fanfiction as I used to. This fanfiction was just written out of the aggravation of not being able to find a non-yaoi Tasuki fanfic. Also, please refrain from reviewing unless you have constructive criticism or comments of appraisal. Thank you.  
  
Author's Note (or should I say ranting?): This is a non-Yaoi Tasuki fan fic!!!! And NOT a lemon either!!! Not even lime!!! This ISN'T in the citrus family!!! Isn't that great? I have found TWO fanfics with Tasuki that aren't Yaoi, and yesterday I thought I had found one...It ended up being a Tasuki:Keisuke..Just remember, ALWAYS look at the ratings!!! Unless you like the lovely sensation of feeling your lunch crawl up the back of your throat. shudders It didn't seem wrong at first...It actually had a good story line...Then it got entremely wrong...shudders Just remeber, blunt hints lead to wrong stuff...But THIS fanfic is nice and SAFE (at least in my world)! Nothing past a kiss, if that! So for all of you fan girls out there who are sick (literally) of all the yaoi Tasuki fanfics, then you'll LOVE this one. So please read it, and if enough people like it and review it, then I'll definately write more. Thanks!!  
  
Chapter 1: The Lone Bandit  
  
How long has it been since the Miko returned to her world? Five years? It seems like she left only yesterday, Tasuki thought to himself as he stood watching the sun set on one of Mt. Leikaku's many out croppings. I'm a bandit one again, he thought and sighed to himself. It was times like this that he called up memories from those not-so-distant years ago. Chichiri, gods, I haven't seen him in two or three years. He's probably still at Dachi-san mountain with that old, hag Taiitsukun. Tasuki laughed to himself at the thought. Tamahome's with Miaka in her world now; Hotohori's busy as emporer of Hong-nan...No, wait...He's dead...; and Chiriko, poor kid, he never had a chance, so sad...He was so young. And Nuriko,... For as odd as he was, he was still a good, no, a great friend. Gods I miss them...At least Mitsukake's still around. He's probably a doctor in some village. Hell, he may even be an animal healer!...No, that's not true...I have to stop kidding myself...They're all dead, Suzaku take care of them ...All except Chichiri...And I'll probably never see him again...Now I'm all alone in this world. Tasuki nudged a rock with his foot and watched it break loose and fly off the mountain, occasionally hitting rocky out croppings beneath him, skipping down the mountain side. He chuckled to himself and was shocked at how icy it sounded. Which leaves me, a lone bandit, on Mt. Leikaku...Well, at least I've still got Kouji as a friend, but man, he's just so busy sometimes, its like I'm not even there in his eyes.  
  
Tasuki's vision blurred and he surprised himself with the flow of salty tears that slowly slipped down his cheeks. Alone, huh? he thought as he wiped the tears away with the back of his shirt sleeve and hand. Figures it would end up that way...I mean, that's what I wanted, right? To be left alone...But now it seems... "Grr...Everything's changed so much!" he screamed as he fell to his knees, pounding the solid rock with his fists. "I...always thought that I would want ta be a bandit my entire life...I'd live as one, an' die as one...But now,...I don't know, it just doesn't shine th' way it did before." He looked up from the gray slate to watch the last dying embers of the sun set fade from the sky and the blue blackness of night claim the horizon. White flecks of light littered the sky overhead as the stars made themselves visible on the dark, velvety sky.  
  
"I've changed," Tasuki said to himself and to the sleeping mountain. "I guess...I guess I matured." He smiled as an after thought as he brought himself to his feet and stared out at the cold world that lay stretched out before him. "So maybe that's why I feel so alone," Tasuki said into the wind, as it blew stray pieces if his flame colored hair into his amber, fiery eyes. Most of his wild mane flowed behind him as the breeze played with it, and dried his tears.  
  
He turned his back to the outcropping of rock that he had come to so many times before to think, to clear his thoughts, and faced the trail that would lead him back to the shrine and his home.  
  
When he crawled into bed later that evening he couldn't help but wonder what his future would be like. Will I saty as a bandit my entire life? he thought, as he sat on the edge of his bed and slid his legs under the blanket. He sighed as he laid down and pulled the blanket up to his collar bone. Or does destiny have another fate in store for me? He stared at the ceiling for a moment before he took a brief galnce out the window at the starry, moonless night sky, and then he rolled over onto his side and faced the wall as he slowly drifted off to sleep, questions from today still swimming through his thoughts.  
  
"Where do ya think yer goin'?" asked a young, male voice from behind some bushes along the main trail on Mt. Leikaku.  
  
"Huh? Who's there?"  
  
Tasuki made a dramatic entrance by leaping out of the bushes and into the middle of the road, until he heard some restrained laughter and realized there was a small tree branch sticking out from the front of his fiery hair. Once he pulled the offending thing out he gazed with a serious look on his face, at the small group of people that stood before him.  
  
A middle aged man was leading three other guys that were with him, one whom was holding a young girl, bound and gagged, slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Tasuki shot both that man and his leader on infuriated glance before he questioned their actions.  
  
"What's with th' girl? Why do ya 'ave 'er all tied up like that? Hmm?" he asked, as he reached his arm behind his shoulder and fingered the tessen that he kept there.  
  
"That's not of your business," said the supposed leader. "She is ours, under our control. You need not worry over her. Now, let us pass."  
  
"I'm afraid I can't do that," said Tasuki as he pulled put his tessen and adopted a fighting stance. "Pay the toll and let the girl go and I'll think about lettin' ya ignorant bastards walk on the sacred Mt. Leikaku."  
  
All the middle aged man did was laugh, while his followers shifted their weight nervously from foot to the other, including the one that held the young girl.  
  
"Please, leave us be young man, we want nothing to do with you, nor do we wish to harm you, now please, get out of our way," the man said, now clearly a look of growing anger and annoyance on his face.  
  
"I don't think so...REKKA SHIN'EN!!" And with that he burst the man, and two of his followers, to ashes. He approached the third man, the one that held the girl, slapping the tessen against his opposite hand, threateningly.  
  
The man's eyes widened in fear until their whites seemed to double in size, and he trembled slightly.  
  
"Now, I'm gonna ask ya this once. Put th' girl down an' then go back to whatever skum bucket ya came from!!"  
  
"H-hai," the man stutered, and gently placed the girl on the ground before running off in the opposite direction.  
  
Tasuki laughed. He knew he would never see the likes of him, and probably not many more of his kind on Mt. Leikaku again.  
  
The only reason he had fried the men instead of just scaring them away was because he knew who, or rather what, those men where. Damn child slave traders. I've heard they're been coming this way, but I never caught some before. Poor kids. If they're lucky, they'll end up being farm hands or laborers, but the prettier ones.. Tasuki shuddered at the thought.  
  
Cautiously he approached the young girl, not knowing what her reaction would be to another male figure after the horrors she had probably just endured with her captors. Because the man had laid her down on her stomach, her face practically in the dirt, he had to turn her over to pull the gad out of her mouth, and when he did, he got to truly see her for the first time.  
  
She had just beyond shoulder length blackish blue hair with some shorter strands that kept falling into her eyes, where were a deep green, a peculiar contrast against her hair. She had near straight whit teeth, but not the prominent fangs that Tasuki had, although her canines were slightly longer than most others.  
  
She coughed and spit out dirt that had accumulated in her mouth and tied desperately to rid her mouth of the taste of the sour dirty cloth and the driness it had brought with it. She looked up at her savior and smiled once some of the normal feelings and tastes returned to her mouth. Tasuki smiled back and then moved down to untie her hands and feet.  
  
She rubbed her wrists and ankles when she was finally free from the binding of the ropes.  
  
Tasuki offered his hand to her and she grasped it, pulling herself up.  
  
"Thanks," she said, as he looked at her a little more closely and then turned arounf and started to walk back towards his home.  
  
"Wait!" she yelled after him and grabbed his arm.  
  
Tasuki turned around to face her, raising his eyebrows in a questioning glance.  
  
"My name's Makani," the girl said with a slight bow of respect.  
  
"I'm Tasuki," he said to her, before turning around yet again.  
  
"Now hold on!" she yelled as she ran past him and then stood in front of him, blocking his way. "Thank you so much for saving me, how can I repay you?" she said with an ever so slight bow this time.  
  
"It was nothing. You don't owe me anything," Tasuki said as he pushed by her.  
  
"Wait a sec, are you just going to leave me here?!"  
  
"Yep. Ya might want ta go back home b'fore dark tho. There's a bunch of wolves that roam around here at night."  
  
Makani dropped her eyes to the ground. "I don't have a home to go home to."  
  
Tasuki stopped dead in his tracks and turned a bit so he could look at her better.  
  
"They're all dead. Those men...they killed them...They sold off my little sister and killed our parents. I don't even know what they did with my brother...Since my family was poor to begin with, and barely anyone noticed us at it was, when their deaths came to be, no one noticed. After all, who cares about the lives of a poor family? We're ntohing but a burden to society," she said with a sneer.  
  
Tasuki couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl who's eyes now over flowed with hot tears from the painful remembrances of her beloved family. She was alone, more so than he was. He still had his sisters and his mother (even though they didn't really count as much for him), and of course Kouji and the other bandits. Makani had no one.  
  
"Then come with me," he said to her. Tasuki watched in delight as her eyes focused on him instead of at her feet, and the life and hope that they now held.  
  
"Thank you so much!" she cried as she ran over to him and embraced him tightly. Tasuki flushed red and tried to push her away, but the girl had an iron clad grip.  
  
"H-hey, now! Don't go all mushy on me!"  
  
"Right," she said loosening the grip of her fingers around his back. "Tasuki, wasn't it?'  
  
Tasuki nodded.  
  
"Well, Tasuki, where are we heading now?"  
  
"To the home of the Mt. Leikaku bandits," he said with a smile. "Don't worry, they're friends."  
  
Makani nodded her head, not sure what to think, but she still followed him as he led the way through the forest.  
  
Tasuki was near to exhastion as he walked in the front door of the place he called home, where all the Mt. Leikaku bandits lived. He had been bombarded with questions the entire way there, and even though he knew it only took 20 minutes, it felt as if it had been wrong.  
  
"What's with your name? It sounds odd...What's that character, that symbol thingy on your arm?...Why did you choose to become a bandit? Is it fun? Can I be one too?"  
  
Those where only some of the questions that he had had to answer and summarizing his entire life story into a 20 minute explanation was no easy feat! He had to tell her how he was a Suzaku Seishi, what he was before that, and before that! He opened the door to his room and was ready to strip down and go to bed, when he realized thatshe had followed him in as well.  
  
He sat down on the edge of his bed and loked at her and sighed. "I guess you can sleep there for tonight," he said as he pointed to the bed on the other side of the room. "I'm too tired to arrange anything else right now." Tasuki started to take off his shirt, but then decided against it and slipped under the covers, still colthed. Makani did the same and within minutes, Tasuki heard the sound of rythmic, deep breathing, that told only of sleep.  
  
Man, that girl can be annoying, Tasuki thought to himself. And yet... A closer look at her served the purpose of warming his cheeks. No way..., Taski thought as he briefly glanced into the night before his eyes fell upon the form huddled under the sheet on the other side of the room, again. I hate girls!...Or at least that's what i've always thought...until now...  
  
"Kuso!" Tasuki muttered under his breath as he looked away from her to face the wall. Thought whirled through his head before he, too, became a victim of sleep.  
  
Author's Note: Well? What did you think? Told you it was safe!!! Not yaoi, or lemon! YAY!!!! Please review it and tell me what you think so I know whether to keep writing the story or not. Flames? Comments? Suggestions? You can tell me them all in your review (hint hint). ; ) Thanks and Ja ne! See ya next chapter! (I hope....) : ) 


	2. Chapter 2: Hauntings of Memories Past

Blazing Divine Flame  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own FY, I never will, and I never have..Although I would really like to...Sadly neither the manga nor the anime is my own.  
  
A/N: This is a non-yaoi, non-lemon fanfic, since I can't stand either. This is a safe fanfic and is dedicated to everyone out there who knows that deep in there hearts that Tasuki is NOT gay!!! (Oh and I had to change the rating because of the not-so-nice stuff that happened to Makani's family..But it's still safe..I didn't make it that bad...Oh, and we can't forget Tasuki's mouth..I can't have this PG, we swears way too much..I tried covering most of it up though...) Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 2: Hauntings of Memories Past  
  
He woke up the next morning to the feeling on the warm sunshine playing on his eyelids. He opened his eyes to greet the fresh day ahead of him, but all he saw when he looked up was two bright green eyes.  
  
"Ahhh!!! What th' hell do ya think yer doin.' Suzaku, ya scared me!! Don' do that!!"  
  
"Gomen nasai," Makani said as she sat down cross legged on the floor next to Tasuki's bed. "I didn't mean to scare you," she said as she drooped her head.  
  
"No, it's okay, just don't do that!" Tasuki said as he sat up and stretched his arms high above his head.  
  
Tasuki could've sworn he head a soft giggling coming from beside him. When he looked down he noticed that Makani was almost shaking she was trying so hard to hold her laughter in. But when she looked up and saw Tasuki looking down at her with an accusing look on his face, she nearly fell onto her side as she released all of her pent up laughter.  
  
"Oh, man Tasuki you should've seen the look on your face! I thought was going to fall over! That was priceless!!" And then she did fall, and ended up rolling over onto her back and laughed for a goof five minutes.  
  
"I don't think it was that funny!"  
  
Makani stopped laughing for a moment and looked at Tasuki, seeming to search his face for something, and then started laughing even harder.  
  
"Okay, okay. I'll stop," she said, her laughter starting to fade as she pushed herself up into a siding position and then crawled over to the Tasuki's bed. "I'm sorry..It was too just too good...," she said as she pulled herself up using the edge of Tasuki's bed as leverage.  
  
She stopped laughing and let out a long sigh that only a long spell of laughter can bring. She then crossed her arms and laid her head of them, resting on his bed.  
  
She looked up into his eyes. They were a fiery amber color and shecould almost see the flames the burn in them. They were so deep, so clear, anyone who looked into them could get lost in their beauty.  
  
Suddenly she realized what she was doing, and when she returned to reality she noticed the questioning look on Tasuki's face, and blushed lightly as he realized she had space out. Oops...I have to be more careful... She smiled and then pushed herself onto her feet, using the edge of his bed for support.  
  
Makani walked over to the window between the two beds and gazed out over the mountainside as Tasuki pushed his blanket aside, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and then got up and walked over to her.  
  
"Beautiful, ain't it? That's one of the reasons I like bein' a bandit up here on Mt. Leikaku. It's nice an' secluded from people, an' pretty." He sighed lightly before he turned around and walked over to the other side of the room. He opened the door and stood in the door frame for a moment, watching Makani gaze out the window. A smile crept onto his face before he shut the door behind himself.  
  
Makani jumped at the sound the closing of the door made. She had thought, or maybe just wished, that Tasuki was still standing behind her, but when she turned arounf, all that greeted her was an empty room and a lonly heart.  
  
She sighed deeply as she moved over to her bed and straightened out the sheet she had used the night before. Sitting down upon the bed she realized just what her life had been up until now, and how it actually had turned for the better. She bit her lower lip until she felt the bitter taste of blood touch her tounge.  
  
Better? My life is better, now that my parents are dead, my sister probably sold off to slave traders, and only Suzaku knows what happened to my brother! Ha!  
  
'But now you have a second chance,' something seemed to call out to her.  
  
I guess...but look what I left behind! The only people I ever cared about and they about me, are gone! No one except myself.  
  
'Things are not always what they seem."  
  
Oh, so I'm not alone? she asked, sarcasm flooding her thoughts.  
  
'Of course not. See with your heart, and not with your eyes on this world. Then you will understand.' And with that the voice faded away and she was left to sort through her thoughts and memories.  
  
* * *  
  
"Mom! Dad! What's going-?"  
  
"Back away Makani." Her dad turned his head towards her a bit, still keeping his eyes focused in the man in front of him, his eyes only darting quickly to look at her and then back to his opponent. "Get out of here!" he yelled as she froze, back flat against the wall.  
  
"Give us the child and we might spare your life fool!"  
  
"I'll die before I give you my daughter!" he pushed his wife behind him as he adpoted a fighting stance, wooden bokken in his hands.  
  
"I'll take that as your last request!" the man said as he lunged towards her father. Makani closed her eyes tightly and turned her head right before the sword slashed her father. She felt his warm blood splash against her face and arms, ans when she opened her eyes, she saw one of the men grab her mother and lock her head in the crook of one of his arms. She heard a loud snap and watched as her mother's form stopped struggling and sagged into a heap on the floor.  
  
"Get over here kid, there's no one to protect you now!"  
  
"Yeah, and bring your kid brother and sister too!"  
  
Totally oblivious to them before, she now felt her little sister gripping tightly onto her pants leg and her brother holding tightly onto her right arm.  
  
She lifted her sister into her arms and grabbed her brother's hand, making a mad dash for the window, but it was too late. They caught her in mid leap. Her brother, even though he got out before her, hgadn't ran far before a soft knock to the back of his head rendered him unconscious.  
  
She pushed her little sister behind her, into the corner, as the men blocked all escape routes, approaching from every angle. She wenr into a fighting stance and they laughed. She had no weapon, was a weak, young girl, and four, full grown men had her surrounded. All she heard was a loud thud as her father's broken bokken met her skull, and she met the floor.  
  
When she awoke two hours later her sister and brother were no where in sight and she was slung over the shoulder of one of the brutes that had killed her parents and tore her family apart. She wanted to yell, scream, kick, punch, something that would give them pain for the giant hole they left in her heart. But her legs and wrists were bound and her mouth gagged. She tried struggling, but that simply brought another blow to the back of her head and blackness until she awoke on the ground ans some other man with fiery hair and eyes, and she could tell from the look on his face that he cared what happened to her and what her future would be as he pulled the gag out of her mouth and untied her wrists and ankles.  
  
So now, she was here, in a large house on Mt. Leikaku, staying in a room with one of the mountain's bandits. Funny how her life had changed so much in, what, two days? If so, she had been unconscious or semi-unconscious for most of them. One day I'm a poor famr girl, the next my parents are dead and I'm torn apart from the ones I care about the most, which leads up to now. I'm sitting here in a bandit's room in Mt. Leikaku...Whoa...Okay, well...My life is definately never going to be the same, she thought with an ice cold chuckle.  
  
She fell backwards onto the bed and hit her head against the wall. "Oww...," she said with a slight moan, feeling the new lump form of the bakc of her head, right next to the others.  
  
* * *  
  
"Hey, Kouji!" Tasuki called out to his friend as he burst through the doors into the main room that the leader of the Mt. Leikaku bandits stays during most of his wakeful hours of duty.  
  
"Hey, Genrou," Kouji said, a distracted look on his face. Tasuki decided long ago that, out of the two of them, Kouji should be the leader. After all, he wasn't half as rash and he could stay here while Tasuki had to go serve the Suzaku no Miko. "So, what's up?"  
  
"Ya're not gonna believe what I found yesterday."  
  
Kouji's eyebrows arched in interest. "What?"  
  
"Ya know how we've been hearin' how there's been slave traders comin' o'er the mountain?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, I caught some wit some young girl tryin' to pass, but I didn't let 'em. 'Em bastards don't deserve ta live. I fried most a 'em and then forced th' last one to hand over th' girl an' he went runnin' away in th' opposite direction, seein' what happen'd to his partneres 'n all." Tasuki let out a small laugh and then studied Kouji's face to see what his reaction was.  
  
All Kouji looked was surprised and a little shocked, and Tasuki sighed in relief. Thank Suzaku he doesn't seem worried of concerned...He just looks...Curious?...  
  
"Is she all right?" he asked, curiously.  
  
"Yeah, she's fine. She slept 'n th' extra bed in my room last night."  
  
"Is this the first time you ran across people like this? What are they, slave traders?"  
  
"Yeah, some of th' other guys ran across some too, but considerin' how bad I scared th' last guy, an' how three others are dead, I don't think we'll have ta worry 'bout slave traders. At least not for a while."  
  
Kouji smiled and looked a little relieved. "All right. Then is she gonna go home today then?"  
  
"Well, that's th' problem Kouji, that's why I came ta see you. The thing is, she doesn't have a home to go to."  
  
"What?" Kouji asked, startled, sitting up straight in surprise. "What do you-?"  
  
"They're all either dead, or sold away, and since she was poor to begin with she'd have no chance od survivin' down in a viallage by herself."  
  
"What are you suggesting Genrou?"  
  
"Well...ah...um...Maybe she could stay with us." Tasuki ignores the fact that Kouji's jaw had nearly hit the floor with his last remark and kept talking.  
  
No way...Genrou just asked if a girl could stay here...You've got to be joking!  
  
"...So I was thinkin', since I have a spare bed an' all, an' all the other rooms are being used, she could stay with me...I mean, I don't care, she's not that annoying...I mean..."  
  
"Genrou?...I mean, you are Genrou, right? You, the guy who has hated women his entire life just offered to share a room with one? Soemone, quick, so look out the window, I think the world might be ending!"  
  
"Oh, Shaddap!" Genrou said as he put Kouji in a head lock and rubbed his fist into his head. "Now..."  
  
"Okay, okay, U'm sorry," Kouji said, trying to pull Tasuki's arm off his throat.  
  
"Good," Tasuki said as he let him go and patted the top of his head jokingly.  
  
Kouji fixed his hair and gave Tasuki a mock death glare and they both burst out laughing.  
  
"So...What 'cha think?" asked Tasuki as he regained the ability to speak.  
  
"Sure. Hell, I don't care," said Kouji. "And you know that you have as much power as I do here because-"  
  
"Yeah, I knw. But still, you are the leader," Tasuki said as he turned around and opened the doors he had some in through earlier. "See ya later Kouji," he said as he turned around and waved at him before the doors closed behind him.  
  
* * *  
  
Wakani looked up as Tasuki entered the room. She looked up at him and smiled, causing a faint smile to spread over his lips as well.  
  
"It's getting hot in here...and its such a beautiful day outside...I think I'll go for a walk," Makani said before she got up from the bed and walked towards the door.  
  
"Wait," Tasuki said as he grabbed her arm when she tired to walk by him. Tey both blushed a little before he went on. "I mean, its dangerous out there, what with the wolves and all of those idiots that rome the forest during the day."  
  
Makani looked at him questioningly.  
  
"I-I better go with you."  
  
She shrugged and he let go of her arm. "Sure," she said and opened the door to the room, looking behind her to make sure he followed.  
  
Kouji watched them from behin a pillar as they walked down the hall. He couldn't help but smile. Huh, who would've thought, Tasuki, of all people, falling for someone. And I'm still single! I wish I had girls flirting wiht me like that! And he used to hate girls?! Oh yeah, it shows.  
  
Kouji observed them and he could tell that soemthing was starting between the two, but he knew that neither one was really willing to admit it. He laughed to himself as he watched them accidentally bump into each other, look at each other and blush, and then take a step away from each other. This should be interesting, he thought as he disappeared down a different hallway and left Tasuki and Makani to leave and go for their walk.  
  
* * *  
  
Tasuki breathed deeply of the floral scented air. He loved going for spring walks like these when he had a chance. Of course, when he was younger, he was too hyper to think of anything else other than being a bandit and beating up bad guys. Now that he was out of adolesence he enjoyed his surroundingss for more than he had initially. He sighed as he let out his breathe and let the sheer beauty andawe of his surroundings truly sink in.  
  
Makani looked at him briefly and then back to the trail they were on and the forest that encompassed it. She ahd loved playing in the forest in the free time she had away form her parents when they didn't need her, and meager and few lessons that she was taught by family and her parent's friends. She would explore trails and trace brooks through the woodland. she smiled at the opportunity she had now before her, although she tried not to think about all the sacrifices that had been made for her to have the peace she now held. A single tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly before she though Tasuki would notice, but he did.  
  
Poor kid, she's gone through so much. She really needs to lighten up before she throws herself into another state of depression, Tasuki thought, before he decided to ruffle her hair, attempting to lighten the mood. As he tossed it around he realized just how soft and silky it was.  
  
Of course, this distracted Makani from her deep thoughts in just enough time for her to reach up and grab Tasuki's hand. She helf it there for a while before she pulled it out of her hair and held it still longer at her side before she let go and returned to her observation of the surrounding forest. Tasuki smiled and subconsciously moved to put his arm around her, but she jerked away.  
  
He looked down at her for a moment shocked, and embarassed, by what he did. He looked at her briefly, but she turned her head away and he could tell that soemthing deep inside was still hurting her. Why did I do that? what came over me?! I normally never would... He just couldn't grasp why he would, on impulse, do that. He hadn't cared about anyone as much as he cared about her in a long time...Not since he had had to protect the Suzaku no Miko, and even then it seemed some what deeper than that. He cursed at himself for trying to touch her, he just probably made things worse, but after a while, she relaxed again, and walked closely to him like before. It semmed that although he couldn't touch her, she moved towards him whenever she pleased. He smiled but caught himself as his hand moved to place a stray piece of her hair behind her ear. He forced his arms to his sides and pretended to pay attention to the singing birds overhead.  
  
He didn't know what to say, so he kept quiet and let Makani sink into the placid peacefulness of the forest.  
  
Makani didn't know what to do or think anymore. Why did I ahy away from him when he moved to place his arm around me?...Was it because I'm in so much pain from all the losses I suffered?...No, that should cause me to be wanted to be touched, to be comforted more, not less!...Grr...What's wrong with me?! Why do I always shy away from people that try to get close to me? Am I afraid to get hurt? That I'm going to loose someone else?...Yeah, that's it...I don't want to loose another person that I've grown to love...But if I cut myself off, I'll be even more miserable than I was before! Oh yeah, this is going to work...I'm going to be real stable when I get older, what with all these arguments inside my head and so on. She laughed at herself and she saw Tasuki smile out of the corner of her eye because of it. She smiled and started to enjoy the situation she was now in, instead of loathing the memories and blurred emotions inside her head.  
  
As they walked onward she eventually relaxed enough that she reached over and gripped Tasuki's hand. He didn't know what to think at first, but figured that he shouldn't protest, as it would only upset her again she had just finally calmed down. So he just smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze Makani smiled and blurred slightly.  
  
When Tasuki knew that the trail had almost ended he let go of her hand and led the way through the overgrown exit and to the back of the building they had left earlier. He held back the tree branches and bushes for her to pass easier than he had. She graciously accepted his offer and passed through the overgrown opening quickly. Tasuki looked at her and smiled before they started walking towards the building and then entered through the back doors and gate.  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Well, what did you think? Should I keep going? I know that this one was basically Makani's past, so I promise that the next chapter will be mostly Tasuki. That's if you peoples like it enough. If I get enough reviews, then the next chapter will be up within a couple of days (considering I'm hand writing it and typing it up!! Twice as long...) Please, onegai, Review!! Arigato!! Ja ne!! 


	3. Chapter 3: Deja Vu

Blazing Divine Flame  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own FY, I never will, and I never have..Although I would really like to...Sadly neither the manga nor the anime is my own...  
  
A/N: This story takes place after Miaka goes back to her world with Tamahome/Taka and Tasuki is no longer needed to protect her..This is a non- yaoi, non-lemon Tasuki fanfic!! Like the last chapter, this one is rated PG- 13, except its this time because an odd situation arises...Nothing that bad though! So don't worry...And,...um...well, I'm not sure how good this chapter is going to be because I switched personalities about 15 times...Oh, and for those who didn't want too much sap, you'll be happy...Um...Enjoy?...  
  
* * *  
  
Chapter 3: Deja Vou  
  
Their feet thudded softy on the floor as they walked down the barren hallway. Once they got to their room Makani couldn't even look at Tasuki anymore. She sat down on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her hands as she tried to make sense of the thoughts that swirled around inside her head. Do..do I love him?...I don't know...But even if I do, should I trust him?...I don't know...But even if I do, should I trust him? I'm happy when I'm around him, yes, she thought as she looked up at him peeking through a space between her fingers. But is there more behind it than just that?...Grr...I really don't know...I need to clear my head.  
  
"Tasuki?" she said, hands still covering her face.  
  
"Hmm?" he said as he looked down at her.  
  
"Do you know where I could take a bath. I'm starting to reek," and you could use one too...But I need to clear my head and sort out my thoughts more than anything else.  
  
"Yeah, I'll show ya. But I think ya might want some clean clothes first, right? Plus, th' ones ya 'ave now ain't that great either."  
  
"I guess...but..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do you guys have any women's clothes up here. I mean, this place is ran completely by male bandits," she pointed out.  
  
"Oh yeah," Tasuki said. Oops...I hadn't thought of that...um... "I guess you could wear some of my old ones."  
  
Makani moved her hands to her sides and looked up at him. He's got to be kidding. But then she searched his face and saw that he was serious. He's not...Maybe he's been living up here a little too long...I think the lack of oxygen and the air pressure might be getting to him. "Sure! Why not?" she said with a sigh as she got to her feet, using her arms to push up off the bed. I could use clean clothes...These ones are grimy and are...Well, just, yuck...I mean, nothing bad could come from this, right?  
  
Tasuki knelt down and reached under his bed, pulling out a blue oblong box. Inside there was an outfit similar to the one he had on now but the pants were a pastel blue and the shirt wasa midnight blue color. He handed the clothes to her and smiled. She walked over and knelt down next to him. Her hand brushed against his as she took the garments from him.  
  
"Any idea where I can get a towel?"  
  
"Yeah. There'll be some at th' pool. Ya ready ta go?"  
  
They both went to strand and nearl hit heads as they finally got to their feet. They both blushed when they ended up mere inches apart. Too close for comfort.  
  
Makani turned towards the door and walked out into the hall way. Tasuki following close behind.  
  
"Follow me," he said after looking around for a few minutes, wondering which way to go.  
  
I'm guessing he doesn't take baths very often.  
  
After walking for about five minutes, turning down various hallways, they came to a sat of double doors. Tasuki held the door open and motioned for her to go inside, like a chaufer. Makani had to hold in her laughter as she passed by him.  
  
There was one large bathing area and a couple of smaller ones off to the sides. There was no one in there right now, and it seemed like there never was that many people who used it to begin with. Tasuki went over to the cabinent in a wall, pulled out a towel, and handed it to her.  
  
"C'ya, in what, an hour?"  
  
"Yeah, probably."  
  
"K," Tasuki said as he exited the room and closed the door behind him.  
  
Makani took all of her things and headed toward one of the closed off areas. Positive that no one else was there, or watching her, she stripped down and lowered herself slowly into the warm, soothing water. she sighed deeply as the liquid caressed her skin and seemed to seep its was through her, relaxing her right down to the bone. She slid back until the water came up to her skin and sat there for a while before she actually started bathing, at leisure, though.  
  
Hmm...This feels so good...I never got to do anything like this before...It was normally just a cold water bath that involved simply a bucket of water being dumped over your head and a wet, dirty rag...This is so much better...Now that I'm alone I can let my head clear...So, first off, what about Tasuki...  
  
She must've dosed off because the sound of a door opening and closing roused her to her senses.  
  
"Hey, Makani! Ya still in here? It's been almost two hours. Are ya alright?' Did she leave and just not bother to tell me? Or maybe she drowned...Hell it wouldn't be the first time someone slipped and fell in, or drowned because they fell asleep.  
  
Before she could respond Tasuki rounded the corner.  
  
"Hey, Maka-?" he stopped in mid-sentence when he looked down and saw her. He could feel the blood rush to his cheeks, warming them, and causing him to flush beet read before he turned around and stood with his back to her. "I-I...um...s-sorry," he said, stammering. Kuso, how could I've been so careless. Of course she wouldn't've left, she had no where to go! And she has more sense than those bakayaro who died!  
  
Makani tried to coll down her cheeks as she stepped out of the water and wrapped herself in the towel.  
  
"I-It's okay...Just do me a favor, and don't turn around!"  
  
"O-of c-course I wo-won't." Shimatta! I really need to think before I act! I knew she was still here, so why did I?... He had to keep his eyes from trying to sneak a peek behind him. He gave himself a mental slap. What is wrong with me?!...I...  
  
"Okay," Makani said. Tasuki heard the rustling of fabric behind him end. "I'm dressed. It's okay." She smiled faintly, her cheeks still tinged with pink as well as Tasuki's.  
  
All of a sudden, the world seemed to spin around her as a spell of dizziness swept over her. She lost her sense of balance for a moment as she stumbled towards the water's edge, but Tasuki caught her just before she fell back in. He leaned her against his chest for a moment until she could stand in her own two feet again, even if she was a little shaky.  
  
"S-sorry...I just realized...I haven't eaten anything in about three days...Since those bastards took me...I guess it finally caught up with me." Whoa..he's really fast, how did he catch me in time?...I wonder if it has to do with being a Suzaku Seishi...  
  
Tasuki looked down at her and almost laughed. Thank Suzaku she's not obsessed with food! Miaka would never forget to eat, and this one hasn't eaten in three days! Whoa...There are sure as hell some big differences between women.  
  
"How about I take ya back ta our romm ad bring ya somthin' to eat, k?"  
  
"All right." But right after she too ktwo shaky steps, Tasuki realized that this wasn't going to work. He slid one arm behind her knees and one around her back before her picked her up and began to carry her.  
  
"Tasuki, what are you-?" she asked. Startled and surprised, she wrapped her arms around his neck so she couldn't fall and would maintain her balance.  
  
"Hey, ya'd never make it back that way, an' I really don't mind."  
  
"Thanks, Tasuki," she said, as she gave him a light kiss on the cheek and loosened her arms around his neck. She held back her laughter as he blushed and started to stammer.  
  
"Ah...um...er...N-no prob."  
  
Ten minutes later they where back in the room. Tasuki set her down on her feet ans she went and sat on the edge of the bed before he went quickly to go get her some food form the kitchen. Less than five minutes later he was back with a large array of foods that she was shoked to find out, were meant only for her, when it looked like it could feed four people.  
  
"Umm...All this is mine?" Makani asked, a confused look on her face.  
  
"Yeah, why? It ain't enough?"  
  
"What?! No! It's more than enough! I couldn't eat this much if I tried!"  
  
Tasuki heaved a sigh of relief. Thank Suzaku for certain now that she isn't Miaka. She woulda eaten us of the mountain if she was."  
  
All she ate was a small salad and a cheese sandwich befoe she was stuffed and couldn't eat anymore. Being poor as she had been, she had learned that you had to he satisfied with what meager food you had, so you never ate a lot anymore.  
  
She refused the soup, biscuits, fried noodles, and rice that he had also brought her. He ate some himself before he brought the left overs back to the cook and took a seat on his bed, directly across from her.  
  
No sooner had he sat down, someone knocked on the door, making him jump.  
  
The door opened and a young boy popped his head inside the room. He looked as Makani for a few seconds, confused, and then he spotted Tasuki.  
  
"Um...Sorry to bother you Genrou-san, but the leader needs to talk to you. He says its urgent."  
  
Tasuki stood up with a puzzled look on his face. What? What could Kouji possibly want to tell me? Everything was fine yesterday. "I'll be right back," Tasuki said as he faced Makani for a split second, flashed her a smile, and then turned his attention back to the bandit trainee. "Okay, let's go."  
  
Tasuki followed the young boy as he practically jogged down the hallway. He could sense that something was wrong, but he didn't know what. Obviously this one knew or he wouldn't be rushing him.  
  
Tasuki burst through the doors into the leader's main chamber. "Kouji, what's wrong?" Tasuki could see his eyes were glassy with unshed tears. Tasuki looked to his right and saw tw limp forms laying under white sheets. At that moment, all color left his face. "Wh-what happened?"  
  
"Genrou, those men you killed, do you know who they were?"  
  
Tasuki shook his head, bile starting to climb up the back of his throat.  
  
"They were the leaders of a major slave trading chain. With many devoted followers, I'm afraid. We found those two at our gate this morning, thrir throats slashed. They were young, didn't know better. They took on an assassin that was sent here by the followers of the men you killed. This note," he said, as he help up a ripped and bloody piece of paper, "was held with a dagger that was stabbed into the chest on one of them." By this time Kouji's face was as white as the sheets that covered their young friends. Poor bandit trainees. They had no idea. Kouji handed him the note, his hand shaking. Tasuki walked up to him and took it, his hand no more steady than his friend's.  
  
It read:  
  
'Our piece with the Mt. Leikaku bandits has officially ended. All of you will suffer for the deaths of our beloved leader and his best men. It we can not pass this mountain without confrontations, then we will take it by force. And I asure you, we always get what we want.  
  
Katsu, Leader of the Sureibu Traders'  
  
Kouji looked down at Tasuki and if he hadn't know it was Tasuki standing before him, he would've sworn on his life it was someone else. His normally tanned skin was pearly white, his hair and eyes lost the fire that normally burned deep inside him. He looke scared sick, like he was going to throw up.  
  
Tasuki could only gap at the letter he held in his hands. Kuso! Shimatta! What have I done! I've put the people I care about the most in danger again! The last time something like this happened...When we were attacked... His mind flashed to pictures of dead friends...The ground now crimson, soaked with the blood of both sides...bodies were everywhere...And then...A different scene...He was holding Reirei as she breathed her last breath and died in his arms...He tried shaking his head to clear away the thoughts, the tears that started to well up in his eyes, wanting to break free and slid down his cheeks. He felt the coldness reced as anger filled him, welled up from the depths of his sould until her felt like he was fire itself. No...I will NOT let that happen again, he thought, as he began to almost tremble with rage. Never!  
  
Kouji smiled as he saw his friend gain back the color he lost, but when he looked deeper, it seemed Tasuki was more fire-like than before. Kouji almost pushed his chair back, startled by his friend's rapidly increasing chi. his hair almost seemed to move in a nonexistant breze as a red, fiery aura enverloped his body. Kouji could almost see the fire in his eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry, Kouji. I didn't mean for this to happen," Tasuki said as he looked up from the piece of paper and then handed it back to his startled friend. He turned around and started walking towards the door. As he gripped the doorknob he let out a deep sigh. Kouji felt Tasuki's chi deminish and watched as the aura of red faded and then disappated. "I will not let Mt. Leikaku get attacked. No one of us will die because of the blood I carelessly spilt." Tasuki turned around and managed to smile and wave at Kouji as he exited the room. "C'ya!" And with that, the door behind him closed, leaving a shoked Kouji alone in the room, aside from the bodies of his dead comrades.  
  
"Please, Tasuki. Be careful and not rash. I don't want to loose you, as had almost happened many times before." Kouji sighed himself and then called for the guards to move the bodies. They would be burnt this evening with a proper cerimony to put their souls to rest. For now, Kouji had to figure out some way of dealing with Katsu and his followers, and pray to Suzaku that Tasuki won't do anything foolish.  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Well, that's it for the third chapter! Well, what did you think? Did ya like it? Should I write more? Questions, comments, flames? Please review! I need to know! If enough people review, the next chapter'll be out in a few days at the most. If not, than the fic stops here. Until next chapter (I hope), Ja ne! 


	4. Chapter 4: Boiling Blood and Burning Tea...

Blazing Divine Flame  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own FY, I never will, and I never have..Although I would really like to...Sadly neither the manga nor the anime is my own...  
  
A/N: You already know this story's about Tasuki and that its non-lemon/non- yaoi. In this chapter stuff happens, followed by more stuff, and yet still, more stuff!! YAY!!! It's rated PG-13 right now, but it might change. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 4:  
  
Tasuki stormed down the hall and scared Makani when he opened the door, slamming it against the wall when he threw it open. He didn't notice her jump about a foot in the air, or that she had been crying. All he saw was the blaze that now burned inside him, swallowing everything else up in his fury. He had surpressed most of it from Kouji when he realized what he was doing, but what happened boiled his blood so much that he couldn't keep but feel enraged by the situation he was now in.  
  
Two men are dead because of me, and many more will be if I don't do something soon. It's not fair, this world. I mean, I'll admit, when I was younger, this whole world seemed to be just fun and games, but now... He went over to the wall and punched it as hard as he could, paying no attention to the loud snaps that arose and the throbbing pain which now encompassed his right hand. He leant his head against the cool rock of the wall as he drew back his hand to his side. "Shimatta," he muttered to himself, as he used his only usable hand to push himself up. Walking over to the bed, he didn't notice Makani's swollen eyes or tear covered hands, as he sat down across from her. He felt her presence, yes, but that was all.  
  
"Tasuki?" she questioned, almost able to feel the anger that eminated off of him. "What's wrong? A-Are you okay?" She asked, concerned. She had heard the snapping of something, but didn't know what it was. When she looked down she saw three of his fingers looked like they had been snapped in half, and the middle one looked as if the bone was ready to pierce the skin. She got up and went over to his side, taking his left hand in her own. He didn't even seem to notice or realized what she was doing, as she pushed all of the bones back into place. She took some chopsticks she found on the floor and broke them in half, using three of the pieces to keep his fingers straightened. With her teeth she ripped strips of cloth from her old clothes and used them to secure the wood to Tasuki's fingers. The only thing that caught his attention when she was finished was that she brought his hand up to her mouth and kissed it before laying it back down on his leg and walking back over to the other side of the room.  
  
Tasuki shook his head to clear the horrible images his mind had concocted...Kouji, laying on the ground, speared by the enemy's sword, a pool of crmson slowly engulfing his body...Makani, arms and legs lacerated, laying in a shallow pool of her own blood...Him, Tasuki, the only one left standing in the feild, surrounded by the carnage, the only one left, the last Mt. Leikaku bandit...That was not the way he needed to think right now. He needed to have hope, needed to brave, and if need be, risk his life, so that his friends would be saved, would be safe.  
  
Makani was looking at him worriedly when he finally came out of his trance and took in the world around him. The true world, not the bloody, lifeless one inside his head. He barely managed a smile when he looked at her, one she herself couldn't even return. "Tasuki...What's wrong? Why did you-?" she asked in a loving, caring, conserned voice before he cut her off.  
  
"A-ain't nothing wrong. I-I'm fine, really Makani, don't worry." With eyes that pierced his words and looked right to his heart, Makani gazed at him, and knew that not one word of it was the truth.  
  
"You lie. What happened, and why won't you tell me! If you won't, then I'll find some one who will! Everyone else knows, I can sense all the tension around here, the way people are scuttling up and down the halls like fleeing cockroaches. Tasuki, I-" she stopped and looked at the floor. But even though she didn't utter the next word, he already knew what she was going to say, 'love.' She loved him, like Reirei had before her, and now he was in danger of losing her the same way he lost the last.  
  
"Don't," he told her, after he stood up, looking down at her. She looked up at him in surprise and confusion.  
  
"Tasuki, what do you mean?"  
  
"I mean what I say. Don't. Don't fall in love with me. Please, Makani, don't."  
  
"You can't mean that! Why would you even say-?"  
  
"You don't understand," he said, as he turned away from her and faced the wall. He couldn't look at her, not with the tears welling up in his eyes. But somehow, he kept his voice from wavering and his body form shuddering as the tears slipped down his cheeks. He didn't want to admit why he was crying. Part of him knew he loved her, but part of him thought he just couldn't. He didn't know how and he had never loved anyone else as badly...or as much. "I have a duty to protect Mt. Leikaku. I made a mistake and now I must pay for it. If I get hurt," he sighed, one full of pain and regret. "If I die, I don't want you to be miserable. So please, I'm begging you, don't love me. I'm not worth it, anyways."  
  
"But..Tasuki..."  
  
"No...I'm sorry...It has to be this way...Forgive me." And with that he turned and walked towards the door, shutting it behind him, and ran as fast away from her as he could, not wanting her to see his tears, or question his actions.  
  
"Tasuki...." she had seen the light shine on his cheek as he walked by her. He had been crying. Makani couldn't understand why he had done that, but she had to find out.  
  
She rushed to the door and opened it, only to see an empty hallway. She ran all the way down to the left and flung open the huge double doors looking up to see a shoked and worried Kouji.  
  
* * *  
  
She wiped the tears from her face as she approached the ornamented chair on which the leader now sat.  
  
"Wh-what happened?" she said in a muffled voice as she looked down at the floor, not wanting him to see her tears, but it didn't take his eyes hear her voice waver.  
  
"I'm sorry?" he asked, hoping that she would take the hint, and leave the situation alone.  
  
She threw her head up and glared at him with her piercing eyes. "What happened?!" she nearly screamed.  
  
"I-I don't know what you mean." Please, go away. You don't want to know...You don't...I don't want to hurt you.  
  
She ran up to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt. Kouji waved off the oncoming guards. They gave him a questioning glance before they shrugged their shoulders and took up their posts, still watching, curiously.  
  
"You know what I mean!" she said as the tears ran down her face and trickled down onto his shirt.  
  
Kouji let out a deep, heavy sigh. "All right," he said. Makani loosened her grip and he fell back into the chair. He hadn't realized that she had actually lifted him off in her attempt to force him to speak. "You know of your captors, correct? Of what they were?"  
  
Makani nodded her head. "They're always picking children off the street and selling them...Slave traders, right?"  
  
"Percisely. But do you know just who they were?"  
  
Makani shook her head, some of her blue-green hair falling into her face. She puched it behind her ears with her fingertips.  
  
Kouji let out another sigh. I'm sorry..I really don't want to tell you this... "They were the leaders, the most important people in their trade, and now, I'm afraid, since Genrou...Tasuki...took their lives, we will be thrown into a war with them over their trade route throught Mt. Liekaku."  
  
Makani looked at him, a confused look on her face, before the full impact of Kouji's statement hit her. Kouji almost cried himself when he saw the look of heartache on her face. Oh, gods she knows, she realizes now...I'm so sorry...You don't deserve this...  
  
"No...," she whispered to herself as she felt her skin go cold. He thinks its all his fault...That now they're all going to die because of him...He doesn't realize that if they all work together, this whole thing could be solved...I'm sure there are enough bandits here to take care of them, what with the huge size of this place...And with that weapon Tasuki has, they should be fine...But it's not just that...Something else was hidden, buried...'You don't understand.'...That's what he had said...Don't understand what? Why won't he tell me!!...He-He's going to get himself killed...Oh, gods, he's probably going to try to face them on his own...No...I can't let that happen!...Not when I...Not when I... "SHIMATTA!!!" she yelled, virtually on the top of her lungs, making the room around her shake and Kouji jump in surprise. "No, I can't let him!" she said to herself as she ran towards the doors and bolted throught them..."I can't!!"  
  
* * *  
  
Tasuki pressed himself up, flat against the wall when he heard footsteps approaching him from a conjoined hall rapidly. He held his breath as the person raced by him. He knew who it was, and a flash of her dark blue-green hair assured him that it was Makani.  
  
The tears had not yet stopped leaking from his eyes, but they had slowed considerably. He wiped the newest ones away with the back of his hand. He had wiped his nose with his sleeve so much that it had gone raw.  
  
"I'm sorry...," he whispered to the air. "I'm so sorry, Makani...It's better this way..."  
  
Wiping the last of his tears away, he turned and ran as fast as he could down the hall he was in, and throught the double doors that led to the world beyond. "Forgive me..."  
  
* * *  
  
"Tasuki!!" Makani yelled at the top of her lungs when she had raced about half way down the enormous corridor. She stopped and listened for a second. Footsteps. Behind her. Down the side hall way she had just passed. From the rapidly declining sound of the steps she could tell that they were running fast, and the same direction she now ran, out of the building, and away from Mt. Leikaku.  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Gomen nasai, but that's all there is for this chapter!! Sorry it's so short! The next one will be posted up shortly if I get enough reviews (hint, hint). Comments? Flames? All are excepted!! Ideas are welcome, but don't be disappointed if I don't use them! I hope you all like it so far, because I've enjoyed writing it...I have no idead how long it's going to be...If I keep writing like this? Probably for a while! Until next chapter (if there is enough reviews..), Ja ne! 


	5. Chapter 5: Kamikaze Mission

Blazing Divine Flame  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own FY, I never will, and I never have..Although I would really like to...Sadly neither the manga nor the anime is my own...But I do own Makani!!!  
  
A/N: This is a non-lemon/non-yaoi Tasuki fanfic. It's slightly romance, slightly angst, and slightly action/adventure. I'm surprised you've read this far. I feel honored. *bows* This chapter is rated PG-15 for some blood. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 5: Kamikaze Mission  
  
Tasuki ran down the rocky, sloping trail of the mountain, the one that led to the nearest city. He stumbled numerous times as rocks loosened under his feet and sent him tumbling for a few paces before he regained his composure. I have to find out who these people are, sneak into where ever the hell they meet, and kill 'em all while I'm there, no matter what the cost. I can't let anyone get hurt..Even if it means... He had figured if he snuck into the town at night, he could possibly catch one of the bastards in the act, and then follow him to whatever place they kept all of the children. He would kill whoever he found there with the Rekka Shin'en, let all the kids go, and let one guy live to tell him where the other hideouts where, and then he would kill him too. It wasn't too well thought out, and would be a little messy, but he could pull it off. He was a Suzaku Seishi after all.  
  
After not much looking, he found a cheap tavern on a run down part of the village. There were beggers lining up on the edges of the street. It was nearing evening and many were rustling around, readying to sleep. A few children, preteens and early adolescents, began moving towards darkened, abandoned doorways. The tavern had a few greasy, dirt smeared, and dust windows, and one that was conveniently located near the door. He ordered a mug of sake and sat at the three legged table that was placed there.  
  
Night soon settled and the sky went from light blue, to orange, pink, and then the dark blue-purple that now filled the heavens, aside from the occasional pin points of white, piercing light. He soon noticed slowly slinking shadows pass over the buildings across from the one her was in, shortly there-after followed by muffled cries and soft thuds. No one else noticed. They were wither too busy with their food, too drunk, or just used to the hoorible crimes that happened right outside their very windows. Tasuki shuddered at the thought. No true human being would be able to stand something as sick as this.  
  
Tauki left some random coins on the table before he slipped out the door and proceeded to follow the sneaking shadows. He let his eyes adjust to the dim light of the light and then set them to follow the soft, sleek movements of darkness upon darkness. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one flit by him. With his speed and agility, he was quickly on its trail. No small alley ot hidden back road hid the thief of children from Tasuki's watchful gaze.  
  
Soon he arrived at a large, but rather normal looking house. The only things that hinted of the horrible deals done inside where the low lighting and partially boarded windows.  
  
Well...I'm here now...But it seems...It seemed too easy...There's no way...  
  
A sudden cold, darkness washed over Tasuki. He looked up to see a figure looking down at him from the roof, silhouetted by the thin moon and bright stars.  
  
* * *  
  
When Tasuki awoke, his hands were bound behind his back and his ankles were tied together.  
  
"Shimatta," Tasuki muttered to himself. How could I have been so stupid! A bandit can't sneak up on a thief! We're out right and not as sneaky and camouflaged as they are...They probably spotted me before I spotted them! And now...  
  
Tasuki opened his eyes and a dimly-lit room filled his field of vision.  
  
As he took in his surroundings, he noticed his tessen was no longer on his back, but resting on a table ten feet away.  
  
"Ah, so he's awake, eh?" he hears a couple of voices to his left say.  
  
Tasuki turned as much as he could from his confined state to look at his captors. Two greasy looking men drinking sake at a small table with a couple of chairs.  
  
Tasuki's eyes flashed between the men and his tessen, but not fast enough that one of the men didn't notice.  
  
"Oh, I see you realize we confiscated your weapon, eh? Heh heh heh." The larger of the two got up and went over to the table, picking up his tessen. Tasuki went to yell at him to give it back to him, or put it down, only to find that his mouth was gagged and all his swears an threats came out as muffled yells.  
  
"What's the matter? You want your toy fan back?" said the man who was passing the tessen back and forth between his hands. "Aw, poor little kid," said the man as he walked over and ruffled Tasuki's hair.  
  
WHAT!!! Little kid!!! Grrrr....I swear, when he takes this gag out of my mouth, I'm gonna bite him...Hard! Once again, Tasuki's muttered threats where muffled by the filthy rag that filled his mouth and was shoved partially down his throat.  
  
"Aw...Little boy wants to talk? Hear, let me help," said the other man as he pushed back the chair away from the table ans got up and walked over to him.  
  
Well...Hell! He's just as bad, I'll just bite him instead! Tasuki lunged forward and sunk his teeth into the man's hand as the man pulled the rag out of his mouth. His fangs sunk deep enough into this head to draw blood, and only when Tasuki tasted the bitter-sweet blood did he let go.  
  
The man swore to himself and wacked Tasuki on the back of his head with his good hand. For a second, Tasuki's vision filled with stars and swirling colors, but as soon as they came, they were gone amd replaced by a dull, throbbing pain in the back of his head.  
  
"Fine, bakayaro, if you're going to be like that, then we'll start with the questions. You're obviously ready for questions if you're rambunctious enough to bite." He kicked Tasuki in the ribs, causing him to gasp for breath as the man began to question his actions earlier this night.  
  
"Now," began the other man. "What were you doing following us?"  
  
Tasuki spat at the man's feet. "I han't been doin' nothin."  
  
"Wrong answer," said the other man, as he pulled one of his daggers out of his bootlegs and slashed Tasuki's face open, from above his left eyebrow, to his cheek bone, somehow avoiding slicing into his eye.  
  
The blood from the wound flowed into this eye, flooded his vision to an angry red. The salt stung as it filled his eye socet, but there was nothing he could do except close his eye, his hands useless while ties behind his back.  
  
"I'll ask you again. How do you think you are following us like that? You have no business even being in this neighborhood!"  
  
"What I do is none of ya business!" Tasuki said as he sneered, revealing his long, blood tipped fang.  
  
"Nope. Wrong again!" said the other man as he kicked the other side of Tasuki's face.  
  
Tasuki grimaced, or at least he tried to, as he felt his jaw snapped and he felt the bones shift. Now he would barely be able to speak if he tried!  
  
"What. Where. You. Doing??!!!" The other man screamed into Tasuki's face as he pulled him off the floor, nearly ripping off his scalp as he pulled Tasuki to his feet by his hair.  
  
"N-nothun.," he said with great effort, blood trickling out of his mouth and slipping down his chin.  
  
"What is your problem?!" yelled the man as he kneed Tasuki below the belt, and then dropped him, causing him to fall to his knees, gasping in pain.  
  
"Well, if you won't tell us now," said the other man as he picked up a knife from the table. "Maybe we can bleed it out of him." The man grabbed his right arm and started slidding the knife into his flesh.  
  
Tasuki screamed as the knife sunk into his arm, blood flowing out and covering it in crimson.  
  
"Y-ya bastards...I'll-I'll k-kill..y-ya all... Tasuki started to drift into unconsciousness as the door on the other side of the room slammed open.  
  
Tasuki forced his right eye open and glanced at the slightly bloodied figure standing in the doorframe, holding an even bloodier sword. As his eye adjusted he could faintly make out who it was.  
  
"M-ma...ka...ni...G-go away...L-leave...now!" Tasuki said with much effort, as his jaw swelled to the point where he could barely speak. "I- I'll..be...fine...Go...Save yourself..."  
  
"No! No, Tasuki, I won't let you die! I love you, and I'm not going to loose the last person I love! I lost my family, and all my friends, I'm not loosing you too!!" Tears were pouring down her face as she lunged at the man closed to her. "Hiyaaaa!!!!!!!"  
  
Before the man could pull out his sword, his left arm lay twitching on the floor, fully severed from his body. He stared at it in shock, before he collapsed on the floor for lack of blood.  
  
"K-KISAMA!!!" yelled the other man as he charged at Makani, sword drawn.  
  
She easily dodged his first blow, but for the second one, she wasn't so lucky. A long gash now spread from the corner of her right eye to right before her lips. Enraged, her eyes flashed fire, before she stabbed him right below the heart. As she pulled the sword back out of his chest, he struck her with the last of his strength, slicing halfway through her right arm, just nicking the bone. Makani's hand left her sword as she pulled out her dagger and stabbed him in the eye. The man screamed in pain for a split second before he went limp and fell to the floor. She smiled as she pulled her dagger and her sword out her opponent and wiped ear one clean before she place them back in their sheaths, before she collapsed onto the floor.  
  
"No...," Tasuki whispered to himself as he watched the dark pool of crimson widen around her. "N-no." He reached deep into the depths of his soul to pull out what reserves on energy he had left and use them to drag his broken body over to Makani. Teared stremaed out of his eyes and flowed down his face as he struggled into a sitting position and pulled Makani's limp, blood form into his lap. He held her in his arms, and gazed down at her, his tears droping onto her face, rinsing some of the blood away. He bent his neck down, tilted his head, and kissed her paling lips as the last of his strength left him, and he lsipped into unconsciousness, still holding Makani in his arms.  
  
* * *  
  
Kouji and his men arrived at the house when it was all over. They walked into the house to find at least five men dead in the first room, and a bunch of small, bloody foot prints leading out the door as their captives escaped. Kouji was afraid of what he would find as he walked into the conjoined room. Standing in the door way, the first thing he realized was the two dead men, who looked very similar to the one in the last room. What gipped his heart and refused to let it go was the blood covered Tasuki and Makani, laying in pool of their own blood.  
  
Kouji ran over to them, fearing the worst, but hoping that there might me at least some life left in them.  
  
Please, Suzaku, let them be alive. Oh, gods, let them be still alive. But before he could get to them, a man with light blue hair and a blue cape appeared in front of him and lifted both Makani and Tasuki into his arms.  
  
"Don't worry about you friends, no da. You'll see them soon enough, no da. Sayoonara, no da!" And with that, the strange, blue-haired monk diappaeared in a puff of smoke. Leaving Kouji in his men to wonder just what exactly happened.  
  
But then Kouji realized who the man was, and a smile spread onto his lips. Chichiri. He's in good hands now.  
  
Kouji turned around and walked out of the room to be greeted by the scared faces of his followers. "Don't worry guys, let's go."  
  
"But, leader..."  
  
"They're be fine. They're in good hands. Let's go." Kouji was surrounded by confused, yet loyal friends, as they left the large house and started the treck back up Mt. Leikaku.  
  
* * *  
  
Chichiri was meditating by his favorite lake when he suddenly felt his best friend's chi deminish rapidly. It had started out slow at first, with sudden impulses of increases, but mere seconds ago, it had dwindeled to almost nothing. At first, he thought that Tasuki had gotten into a normal fight that he had occasionally, but now he realized that it wasn't that. It was worse. It was much worse than a minor brawl. Tasuki was now fighting against his diminishing strength to keep his life.  
  
"Shimatta," Chichiri muttered to himself as he focused all of his energy on Tasuki's location. If he didn't get there soon...Mere seconds later he was in the blood filled room, looking down at the crimson stained Tasuki and Makani. His mask hid his tears as he reached down and picked up his dying friend and his love.  
  
He managed to call up a faint, hopeful smile as he looked at Kouji before he focued his chi on Dachi-san Mountain and brought the two dying lovers to the only hope they had left.  
  
His arms were covered with blood when he arrived, none of it his won. He laid them down on a bed and called Nyan Nyan (Lai Lai). She gasped with horror, but then set to stripping them of their clothes and healing their wounds. Chichiri smiled as he turned away and closed the door behind him., leaving Nyan Nyan to hopefully bring health back to the near dead.  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: What did you think? I know, it was kind-of bloody...I know, it was kind-of graphic...But at least it's not as bad as Revenge by Blood!!...Not that it's a bad fanfic, just bloody...very bloody...And nothing like this one...Well, there'll only be one more chapter out after this pone if I don't get enough reviews. If I think that no one's reading it, then I'll just end it and you'll al have to go read those long, annoying, wrong Tasuki, Chichiri crosses!! If you want this to keep going, then PLEASE, for the love of Suzaku, review! If not, then 'good bye' I say to you! Ja ne! 


	6. Chapter 6: Second Chance

Blazing Divine Flame  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own FY, I never will, and I never have..Although I would really like to...Sadly neither the manga nor the anime is my own...But I do own Makani!!!  
  
A/N: You know the deal. Yadda yadda yadda...non-lemon/non-yaoi Tasuki fanfic...Blah blah blah...Rated PG-15 for some odd/slightly wrong situations that occur in this chapter...I thank you all who have read this far...For those concerned about Makani, you'll learn more about her this chapter!!  
  
Chapter 6: A Second Chance  
  
Makani awoke with a horrible headache. She felt a feather soft bead beneath her and when she opened her eyes, she saw that she was in a foggy room with pillars appearing in between the mist. She was laying in a king-sized bed and to her right was...Tasuki...But not in the sprawled out position he usually laid in. He actually looked normal in the position he was now. She turned her gaze away from him and focused it inwards for an instant, trying to remember, to recall to her mind what occurred before she ended up where she was now.  
  
Just what had happened? she thought to her self, as she plummeted deep into her memory, and then the images struck her, like the blows of a thousand, tiny daggers. Men surrounding her, and then dead on the floor, the pool of blood spreading out beneath them. A doorway. Tasuki, lying, almost dead to her right. She saw his captors, his tormentors, so she attacked. Her face...Her arm...She had been mortally wounded...  
  
She reached up her hand to touch her face. Nothing was there. A faint, near invisible scar at most, only slightly indented from her skin. she gripped her right arm with her left...Nothing...It was completely healed...  
  
What the hell??! Where am I? How am I still alive... Then, all the blood drained from her face. A-am I still alive? She grabbed a decent chunk of her skin and twisted it. It stung and turned a bright red. Yup, I'm still alive, but that doesn't answer where the heck I am.. Makani sighed and relaxed. Oh well. All that matters is I'm still alive and... She listened for a second, holding her breath. Good, he's breathing, then so is he.  
  
She turned over onto her side and started at him as he slept. He looked so peaceful. Tasuki's eyes fluttered, and then opened, to see Makani about six inches away, staring at him. At first his heart lept, and his muscles went rigid, he didn't know what was going on and how he had gotten where he was, but the calm smile on Makani's face soothed him a little, and eventually put a similar one on his own.  
  
"Where are we?" he asked, to no one in particular as he sat up in the bed and looked around.  
  
Makani propped herself up on her elbows. "I don't know, I was about to ask you the same-" She stopped in mid-sentence and looked down in horror, as she started to blush bright red. She quickly wrapped her sheet around her (thank God that they each had one!) and prayed that Tasuki hadn't noticed...But he had, and made his discovery at virtually the same time she did, and did almost the same thing, blushing as well.  
  
"M-makani, I-I swear! It wasn't me!"  
  
Makani sat up and looked at him, then laughed. "I kind-of figured it wasn't. Whoever healed our wounds probably did this.."  
  
With that, Nyan Nyan appeared out of nowhere. Or, should I say, about four Nyan Nyans appeared out of no where.  
  
"Yup! We healed you!"  
  
"And fixed your clothes!"  
  
"And washed you up!"  
  
"Um...Thanks?...Thanks everyone!"  
  
"No problem!"  
  
"My pleasure!"  
  
"It's okay!"  
  
"Anytime!"  
  
"We're going to leave you alone now!"  
  
"You need some time to rest!"  
  
"And to talk!"  
  
Then, as soon as they came, they all parted, each saying "Good bye!" either at the same time as, or right after, one of the others.  
  
"Who were they?" asked Makani, as much curious as she was confused.  
  
"That was Nyan Nyan."  
  
"You mean, it was one person?"  
  
"Yeah..It's safer now to ask...And I know where we are now, too."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Dachi-san Mountain. Tasiitsu-kun lives here. She's the creator of the Universe of the Four Gods."  
  
"The what?"  
  
"Long story...Maybe some other time."  
  
"Um...okay...," said Makani. So. She left us here to talk, to be by ourselves...But about what?..And who saved us...And how? And Why?...Wait...What did I say before I passed out?...Oh no, I-I...'I love you'...I told him that I loved him...But I wonder, does he remember? She thought as she looked back up at him, blushing. No, he couldn't possibly...Should I say it?...Yes...I will, "Tasuki, I-"  
  
"Please, don't say it," Tasuki said, his voice slightly wavering. You almost died and it was all my fault...You risked you life for me...Reirei...Gods, I don't want that to happen again! I don't want to lose anyone else!  
  
"But..." What's wrong, Tasuki, I thought that you-  
  
"I told you before, and I'm begging you now," Tasuki said as he turned around to face her. She was shocked at the tears that streamed down his face. "Don't love me."  
  
She felt the tears well up in her own, and she reached out to touch him, but he flinched away from her touch. "W-why? Why are you doing this? Can't you see? You can't ask that of me now, it's too late!"  
  
Tasuki cringed. No...Makani...Please don't do this...If I ever lost you..I...I.. "I don't feel the same Makani, I'm sorry," he said, against the voice in his head that screamed at him that that was a lie, that he loved her more than anyone else. He tried to ignore the pain of hid heart ripping into a million pieces. It's all for the best, he repeated over and over again in his head. It's for her own good. "I mean, I can't love someone that I don't even know," Even though it feels like I've know you for a thousand years.  
  
Makani thought she would die of dispair. "Y-you can't mean that!"  
  
Tasuki had to look away after he watched the first of her tears trickle down her cheeks. I'm sorry..Oh, gods I'm sorry...I never meant for it to be this way...  
  
"Fine then!" she said through her tears. "Then I'll just tell you everything about me that you could ever want, or ever need to know!"  
  
Tasuki turned around to look at her, his eyes, though full of pain and shock, also showed some hope, before the pain washed over it and hurt was all that could be read from his face.  
  
"From as far back as I can remember, I've been poor. All of my friends had been poor, sometimes evern more worse off, than I was. When I was six years old, my best friend died in my arms. She was starving to death and had found a piece of meat on the ground, so she had quickly eaten it up, before I could warn her. The meat wsa meant to kill any stray dogs, raccoons, rats, anything like that, to keep them away from the chicken coop the meat was placed by. She didn't know, and I wept for weeks thinking that if I had spotted her two minutes earlier, she wouldn't have died. Her death burdened me for a long time. I made other friends tho, friends I kept for years. That is, friends I had until the slave traders came. One by one they went missing, and we all would fear that we would be next. Soon, it was just me and Arine. The day after we met one night to ensure each other that we would never loose the other or let the other be taken, I found her dead in an alley. They had hit her too hard on the bakc of the head when they were nabbing her. Which left me. I was the only one left, and in the end, I couldn't even save my own family. My parents died right in front of my face and there was nothing I could do...That's why...That's why I love you Tasuki, and never want to leave you. I've lost so many that I've loved before you, and you're the only one I have left that loved me. Everyone else...All the people I've ever known or loved or gone...That's why I followed you there, as soon as I heard what Kouji had told you...I'll die for you Tasuki! I'll risk my life for you...Because...Because you're the only one I have left...And...I need you."  
  
Tasuki felt as if his heart had been torn out of his chest and stomped until it was flattened against the floor. I'll just be causing her more pain if I leave her now...She's be happier dying in my arms, sacrificing her life for mine, than living without me...How could I've been so selfish...So blind... "I love you, too," said Tasuki, as he reached out his arms and pulled her close to him. "I loved you since the day that I met you...And, I'm sorry..."  
  
Makani looked at him, the tears that were flowing from her eyes starting to stop. Makani freed one of her arms from his grasp and wiped his tears away. "It's okay...As long as I know that you love me, then I don't care...I knew you weren't serious when you said that you didn't love me...You were just afraid to get hurt again...It's okay...I'm here with you, and I'll make sure you never get hurt again."  
  
Tasuki looked down at her, tears still flowing from his eyes. Not ones of sadness and pain now, but of joy. Makani wrapped her free arm around his neck and pulled her self up. She closed her eyes, and he his, as they kissed.  
  
Both of their tears had stopped when they parted, mingling when they had first begun and gone when it was over. Even though they both had admitted their love towards each other, they both had still blushed during their first kiss.  
  
"Now," said Makani. "If you don't mind, I'd like to know why you were so afraid to love me? Because I'm your second chance, now, and you have to set the past free in order to embrace the present."  
  
Tasuki let out a deep sigh. "Her name was Reirei...."  
  
* * * "Oh my god. Tasuki I'm so sorry, I had no ide-"  
  
"It's okay," said Tasuki. "I didn't love her, but she loved me. And it hurt me knowing that she loved me with all her heart, and was a good friend, and then died in my arms. She sacrificed her life to give me a second chance at mine, and for that, I will never forget her."  
  
Tasuki had started to cry again in the middle of the story, but now his tears where dry. He bent towards Makani and kissed her again, but pulled away when he felt a presence there other than there own."  
  
He blushed bright red when he looked over to see who was standing in front to the bed.  
  
"Da..."  
  
"Um..H-hi Chichiri..."  
  
"What about me!" said one of the Nyan Nyans that popped its head about from behind Chichiri's leg.  
  
"Hi, Nyan Nyan," said Makani, she too, blushing.  
  
Nyan Nyan walked over to her and took her hand. "Follow me please," she said, as she tugged on Makani's arm, encouraging her to get up.  
  
Makani made sure that the sheet was wrapped tightly around her before she got up and followed Nyan Nyan, making sure to use her free hand to hold the sheet in place. She glanced back at Tasuki for a second, but all he did was smile and motion to her to keep following the child. Makani glanced back and then was some-what yanked from Tasuki's view, behind a curtain off to the far front and right side of the room.  
  
Tasuki's gaze switched back to Chichiri, who was still standing in front of the bed. Tasuki went to stand up and walk over to him, but thought twice and thought it would be safer if he just stayed where he was. Chichiri noticed and seemed to materialize some clothes and handed them to Tasuki, turning his back to him as he dressed.  
  
"So, you finally found her, do na,'" said Chichiri as he pulled off his mask and held it in his right hand. He looked down at it, wondering if he would ever wear a true smile, other than just the magical mask, ever again.  
  
"Found who?" said Tasuki, as he struggled into the pants Chichiri had given to him. They resembled his old clothes, but these seemd much newer, and of stringer material.  
  
"Your true love, no da."  
  
"What?!" said Tasuki, as he nearly fell over. He was not expecting that at all. Maybe a friendly, 'Hi. How are you?' Nothing like, 'So, you've finally found your true love, congratulations!' It kind-of creeped him, out. Tasuki quickly picked himself up and finished dressing before he went and stood before the blue haired monk, his best friend, and a person he hadn't seen in a very long time.  
  
Chichiri looked up from his mask and Tasuki noticed that he had been crying, ever so lightly. Chichiri wiped the tears away quickly and looked at Tasuki with the best smile he could muster. Tasuki smiled back, even though he didn't buy the fake grin. Poor guy...I know he lost his only love eight years ago...Damn...I had almost completely forgotten that...Bringing Makani here probably only brought back painfully memories to the front of his mind...  
  
"She really loves you, no da. You should be happy."  
  
Tasuki nodded his head. "Yeah...She's great...But on a lighter note,...How's it been? I haven't seen you in what, two or three years?" he said as he patted Chichiri on the back.  
  
"Yeah. I've been doing good, no da," he said, as he put the mask back on his face. "Other than the usual bring back almost dead friends to be healed, no da. The same old, same old."  
  
Tasuki laughed as heart fully as he could and Chichiri bought it, and smiled. A genuine smile. Even through the mask Tasuki could see it.  
  
Tasuki heard foot steps approaching from behind, and knew it was Makani, but before he could turn around and greet her, Chichiri whispered something faintly to him.  
  
"Never let her go, Tasuki, never let her go. Keep her close to you and love her with all your heart and soul, it will only be then that you find true happiness and peace." With that the monk, still smiling, but almost seeming to cry (even though the mask) disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
  
Tasuki turned around to see a slightly startled Makani in a beautiful, ocean-blue kimono. His jaw almost dropped to the floor.  
  
"What? You like?" she said, as she twirled around, revealing the outfit's true beauty and all the glory that it did for her. Makani smiled when she face him one again and then walked over and closed his jaw with the tip of her index finger. "So, what now?" she asked, arising Tasuki back to the real world.  
  
"Back to Mt. Leikaku?" Tasuki said, more of a suggestion than a statement.  
  
"Right, back to Mt. Leiakaku, where we both belong."  
  
Tasuki lifted her up into his arms and kissed her yet again, before setting her down. She smiled and they both walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, since it was the only piece of furniture in the room. Makani leaned onto his arm and put her head on his left shoulder. Tasuki wrapped his arm around her.  
  
Chichiri watched them both from behind the pillar closest to the door. "Sayoonara, no da," he said as he closed his eyes and brought his hand up to his face, concentrating on the two lovers and Mt. Leikaku. Sayoonara. With that they disappeared and Tasuki turned around and walked out the door, a tear splashing when it hit the floor as he walked away. He knew he wouldn't see either of them for a very long time, if at all. They were connected so close, that if one died, then proabaly so would the other. Chichiri smiled to himself. A love like that should never be broken, and probably won't be. For the rest of their lives they'll be together, and the same in death. I don't know if it's strong enough to last through reincarnation, but it just might, and you never know, no da.  
  
When Tasuki and Makani opened their eyes after blinking they were in their room at Mt. Leikaku once again. And here was where they would start their new life together.  
  
"And tomorrow?" said Makani.  
  
"Like any other bandit, we will protect Mt. Leikaku and stop all trespassers."  
  
"Sounds good," said Makani. "Sounds good."  
  
And with that, Tasuki slid his hand under her chin and brought her face close to his own. They kissed more passionately then than they had before. A kiss that began their knew life together and one that they would probably share when they both met their ends.  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Okay...I almost started crying when I was writing it, so I know you guys HAD to be!!! Just figured I'd tell ya guys, if I don't get enough reviews, then this is where the fanfic is going to end! So, R&R!! If you don't, then, c'ya, cause it ends here! 


	7. Chapter 7: Surprise!!

Blazing Divine Flame  
  
Disclamier: I don't own Fushigi Yugi, neither the manga or the anime. As much as I would like to, I also don't own Tasuki, but I do own Makani!  
  
A/N: Because of all the reviews I got concerning this fic and how many people wanted me to keep writing it, I decided to add another chapter..If the reviews keep coming like they've been, I might be forced to write even more! This chapter is PG-13 because the beginning is extremely sappy. Enjoy it, this might be the last!  
  
Chapter 7: Surprise!!  
  
They broke apart no less than two minutes later. Tasuki still held Makani's chin in his hand, so that when they parted, he immediately was looking down into her deep green eyes. She sent him a pure, loving smile that warmed his heart so much it was reflected on his own lips.  
  
"Ai-" Tasuki began.  
  
"Ai shiteru," said Makani. "I loved you from the moment I met you and I knew that no matter what happened, I would never be able to let you go." Makani grasped the hand he had on her cheek in her own.  
  
"Ai-ai shiteru...I love you too...I thought I couldn't...That I'd never be able to love a girl...But now I know..I know for certain, that I love you," Tasuki said as he pushed a piece of stray hair behind her ear.  
  
Makani unexpectedly took a step backwards from him. Tasuki looked at her in shock.  
  
"We're forgetting something," she said, still holding his hand.  
  
"What?" Tasuki asked, startled.  
  
"The leader, Kouji, and the rest of the bandits of Mt. Leikaku, do we tell them..You know, about us?"  
  
Tasuki took a step towards her and caressed her face gently with his hand. "Let's keep it a secret...Besides, we'd probably give them all heart attacks." Tasuki saw the startled look on her face now and laughed. "They still think I hate girls, remember?"  
  
Makani laughed. "Oh yeah..Maybe that is the wisest thing.."  
  
"I'm glad you agree," Tasuki whispered as he bent his neck forward and brought her face towards his own. They embraced each other as they kissed, even after the door to their room was opened.  
  
"Genrou, Chichiri just sent me a message that you were back and I wanted to tell you that Makani now has her...own...room...G-genrou?" Kouji's eyes widened in shock as he saw his best friend, the young bandit who had hated girls his entire life, passionately kissing one.  
  
Makani and Tasuki parted only when they heard something heavy hit the floor behind them.  
  
"What the-" Tasuki said as he turned around, and then noticed Kouji, passed out, in the door frame behind him. He walked over to him and pulled open his eyelids, his eyes were rolled into the back of his head. He put his hand above his mouth and felt his warm breath course over it. He stood up and looked down at his friend. "Poor Kouji, he fainted."  
  
Makani couldn't help but burst out laughing. "He probably had a heart attack."  
  
Tasuki joined in with her. "Maybe we should've told him after all. Come on, help we get him to the infermery."  
  
"Sure," she said, as she went over and helped Tasuki pull Kouji into his arms.  
  
* * *  
  
Kouji opened his eyes to a blurry world. When he finally focused them he noticed that he was in the sick ward with a blue haired monk and a flame haired bandit looking down at him worriedly.  
  
"Wh-what happened?..I had the strangest dream...I was walking down the hall to tell you, Genrou, that a room had freed up and Makani could have it...But, here's the odd part, you and her were kissing!..Funny, right?" he said, as he started to, or at least tried to, laugh.  
  
Tasuki blushed bright red and looked away.  
  
"It was just a dream, w-wasn't it Genrou?" said Kouji as he sat up. He leaned over the side of the bed, straining himself to see if he could get a look at Tasuki's face. Tasuki turned back and faced him, his face as hot as the fire that spewed from his tessen. "Y-you d-didn't? Genrou?"  
  
"You need to get some rest, no da," said Chichiri. Kouji's eyes focused on him temporarily before they flicked back to Tasuki.  
  
"I-I love her..," Tasuki said.  
  
Kouji felt faint again and feel back into the pillows on his bed. "You're kidding! Ha ha ha! Good joke Genrou! You! Falling in love with a girl! That's priceless!"  
  
"He's not joking no da."  
  
Kouji's face paled. "Y-you're serious?"  
  
Tasuki nodded.  
  
Chichiri quickly got up, seeing that the two obviously needed time to talk. They were best friends, and Tasuki needed to tell Kouji what he already knew. "Sayoonara, no da! I'm not needed here anymore!"  
  
"Wait! Chich-!" but before Tasuki could finish his sentence, Chichiri had disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
  
"So...you're in love..," Kouji said. Tasuki could tell from the blank look in his eyes that this newly acquired piece of information was having a hard time sinking in. Suddenly Kouji shook his head, suddenly coming out of his reverie. "Well..um...a...Congratulations!..."  
  
Tasuki laughed. "You haven't changed a bit...Don't worry about it...I'll make sure there's no replays of what happened before..."  
  
"Thank the gods," said Kouji as he pushed himself up into a sitting position again. He felt his strength return to his limp muscles. "So you're seriously in love with her, huh?"  
  
"Yup," Tasuki said as he helped Kouji to his feet by taking hold of the hand he had offered him.  
  
"So...What now?"  
  
"I don't know...Um...I want to be in the same room with her.."  
  
"Oh..Y-yes of course...Is there...err...Anything else?"  
  
Tasuki looked up at Kouji, faint touches of blush still on his cheeks. "N- no."  
  
"All right," said Kouji as he put a friendly arm around Tasuki's shoulders "So when's the wedding?"  
  
Tasuki flushed an even deeper red than he had initially. "I..um...a..."  
  
"I'm just kidding!" said Kouji as he opened the door and they both stepped into the hallway. Makani was waiting outside.  
  
"Tasuki! How'd it-? Oh...Um...H-hi Kouji. H-how are you feeling?"  
  
Kouji smiled. "Just fine..."  
  
"Tasuki?" Makani asked him, he knew the question without her even asking. He could see it in her eyes. He nodded his head. Makani almost fell over with relief.  
  
Kouji chuckled. "It's okay...I don't care...I mean...err...I'm happy for you and Genrou!"  
  
Makani and Tasuki both flushed this time and Kouji couldn't help but laugh again, except this time at the matching shades of red on their faces. Know, if I only knew what to do with a best friend that's fallen in love.. Kouji smiled wearily at them and then turned away, walking towards his room. He saw them clasp hands as he turned away. Who'd a thought, he said, as he shook his head in disbelief. Genrou in love with Makani..Who woulda thought?  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: What'd ya think? Review if you want me ta keep writing! Thanks! 


	8. Epilogue

Divine Blazing Flame  
  
Disclaimer: FY is not mine!! But Makani is...I think she might even become a personality...Oh well!!  
  
A/N: This is the last of this fanfic. I felt pretty bad leaving it off with the whole Kouji incident...So, this is the end of my non-yaoi/non-lemon Tasuki fanfic. But, never fear!! I just finished my non-yaoi/non-lemon Chichiri fanfic, so you can go read that one now!! It's short, but it came out pretty good! Well, enjoy!!  
  
Epilogue:  
  
3 years later  
  
"Oh Makani, she's beautiful..." Tasuki and Makani both looked down at their new baby girl.  
  
"And look! She has your flame-colored hair..."  
  
"But your deep green eyes..."  
  
"What were the chances of that happening?" They said as they looked up at each other, but then they almost fell over with laughter.  
  
"I don't know...but she is just a gorgeous little thing..." Makani said as she rocked the little child in her arms. She had been born just hours before and this was the first time Tasuki had gotten a good look at her, the same for Makani after all the stress she had gone through delivering her into this world.  
  
"So what are we going to call her?" asked Tasuki as he gave his brand-new baby girl his finger, which she playfully tugged at.  
  
"I don't know...," Makani whispered to herself. But then it hit her. "Wait...How about Kagirinai Ren'ai," Makani said with a smile.  
  
"Eternal love..." Tasuki said to himself. "Are you sure?" Tasuki looked at Makani and then down at the child. "What do you think, Kagirinai Ren'ai?" The child made a sqeal of laughter and pulled at his bangs. "I guess she agrees," he said, as he nearly fell over. She was strong for a little child, he would give her that much.  
  
"Hey, can I see her," a semi-nervous voice came to them from the door behind them.  
  
Tasuki and Makani turned away from their child for a moment to see Kouji in the door frame, and ear to ear smile on hise face.  
  
"I don't see why not," said Makani.  
  
"Yeah, sure, come on over, Uncle Kouji." Kouji took a step backwards, startled for a moment, but Tasuki walked over and clapped him on the back. "Come on, ya're like an older brother to me, so she's like yer niece. Come ovre and say "hi" to little Kagirinai Ren'ai."  
  
"That's such a beautiful name," Kouji said as he walked over and knelt down beside Makani and the baby. "Hi little one, hi Ren'ai."  
  
"You can hold her, if you want to," said Makani, as she holded her out to him.  
  
"Sure," said Kouji, as she took her from her arms. Tasuki almost laughed. The leader of the My. Leikaku bandits, cradling a new-born baby. He was as gentle as a lamb. But then again, so was he. "Well, I'm your Uncle Kouji I guess. Welcome to Mt. Leikaku!" The baby smiled and pulled on his hair as well. "Ah! Here! You better take her Genrou, I can tell she's going to be a little bundel of mischeif when she gets older."  
  
"And one of the best Mt. Leiaku bandits ever!" said Tasuki as he took her from Kouji and held her up in the air. "My daughter...Kagirinai Ren'ai..." He cradled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth until she fell asleep. Who woulda thought that I, the hater of girls, would have a kid!! I almost can't belive it myself! But here she is, in my arms. Wow..  
  
Makani yawned and Kouji and Tasuki looked at her.  
  
"You've had a rough day, Makani. Why don't you take a nap, you need your rest. I'll look after the baby for a bit."  
  
"Are you sure, Tasuki. I don't want to put you through any trouble."  
  
Tasuki looked at her and smiled. "She's as much my child as she is yours! It would be my pleasure."  
  
"Okay," said Makani as she stifled another yawn. "C'ya in a couple of hours!" Makani said as she rolled over and her breathing became more rythmic.  
  
Kouji tip toed out of the room, and waved good bye before he closed the door softly behind him.  
  
Tasuki looked over at his beautiful wife, then at their newbor baby, and then out the window into the heavens, and thanked Suzaku for he wonderful like he now had. He could've sworn he saw the red pheonix fly past the window, but then he blinked, and it was gone and he found himself drifting off into the realm of sleep as well.  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Sorry to end it like this!! Well, I hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it. Please R&R!! Ja!!! 


End file.
